After each week’s slate of games are completed, I’ll give you my updated NFL Power Rankings, and starting next week, note the changes in positions.
Following the rankings will be a few notes of interesting tidbits that occurred during the week of action.
Power Rankings after Week 1:
1. Kansas City Chiefs (1-0)
2. Green Bay Packers (1-0)
3. New England Patriots (0-1)
4. Atlanta Falcons (1-0)
5. Dallas Cowboys (1-0)
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0)
7. Oakland Raiders (1-0)
8. Detroit Lions (1-0)
9. Seattle Seahawks (0-1)
10. Minnesota Vikings (1-0)
11. Denver Broncos (1-0)
12. Los Angeles Rams (1-0)
13. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0)
14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-0
15. Miami Dolphins (0-0)
16. Arizona Cardinals (0-1)
17. Los Angeles Chargers (0-1)
18. Baltimore Ravens (1-0)
19. Tennessee Titans (0-1)
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0)
21. New York Giants (0-1)
22. Carolina Panthers (1-0)
23. Buffalo Bills (1-0)
24. Washington Redskins (0-1)
25. New Orleans Saints (0-1)
26. Cincinnati Bengals (0-1)
27. Houston Texans (0-1)
28. Cleveland Browns (0-1)
29. San Francisco 49ers (0-1)
30. Chicago Bears (0-1)
31. Indianapolis Colts (0-1)
32. New York Jets (0-1)
Biggest statement:
The year started off last Thursday night with a dominating performance by the team I picked to win the Super Bowl, in the Chiefs, punching the defending champion Patriots right in the mouth, with a convincing and dominating win IN New England. This performance put the rest of the NFL on notice that Kansas City is for real. We also witnessed the coming out party of rookie running back Kareem Hunt, who fits like a glove in Andy Reid’s offense. With that being said, losing All-Pro safety, Eric Berry for the season with a torn Achilles is a huge blow. We’ll have to see if the Chiefs are able to weather that particular storm.
Biggest Surprise:
Frankly, despite the Giants having repeated success against the Cowboys, when playing on the road – in AT&T Stadium – I still expected the Cowboys to win this game. However, what I didn’t see coming was a totally inept Giants team that looked as lost as they did. They had a non-existent offense, a surprisingly underwhelming defense, and a head coach who looked utterly confused all game. There was nothing to the Giants offense. It was like at some point you figured – even with Odell Beckham Jr. missing the game – that the Giants would put something together, but it just didn’t happen. This was not the game I expected to see. I know it’s just week One, and no OBJ, but something feels off with the Giants.
Best player to emerge:
Jared Goff has a lot of people crossing him off their “bust” lists this week. I know, last year was just his rookie year, and he had NO OFFENSIVE COACHING. This is very true, and why I believed he would thrive with new Head Coach Sean McVay actually coaching him up. That’s why I was high on the Rams when I wrote my NFL prediction column. But, let’s be honest, there were a lot of people out there who already saw Goff as the most recent first-round QB bust. He still has a way to go, but with McVay coaching him up, and the Rams providing some help around him, Goff looks like he may actually be a star in the making.
Quick hitters:
– David Johnson’s wrist injury has just effectively ended the Cardinals shot this year. Yep. One player – and that quickly.
– Carson Wentz continues to develop and grow despite Doug Pederson’s attempt to cause his arm to fall off from his aversion to running the ball.
– The Chargers almost-but-not-quite comeback against the Broncos was the best game most people missed thanks to it being the second of the now yearly week one Monday Night Football doubleheader. By the way, Denver won 24-21.
– The Jacksonville Jaguars have a really, really good defense, folks.
– The Oakland Raiders have a really, really good offense, folks.
– Christian McCaffrey is apparently going to be used in the Panthers offense in more ways than we thought was even possible.
– Is it just me, or has there been an unusual amount of kicker turnover this year?
– I am 100% sure no one cares about the above point.
– If you watched The NFL Redzone at all during the Eagles game, you committed a violation of your Official Philly Sports Fan Responsibilities. Don’t do it again, or you will be labeled a Fugazi Eagles fan.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
